Guanaya Part Two

There are approximately 10,000 people living on the Guanaya, 8000 of which live on the tiny island of Bonacca. It is so bizarre that there was so much space on the main land and yet everyone lives so cramped. The reason being that Bonacca had no sandflies and mossies unlike the mainland!Very sensible!!





Although the water was not great in El Bite we spent a few days hopping through the reefs and visiting other small islands. We bumped into our friends of a boat called Baju - that we first met just after our atlantic crossing in the island of Dominica in the West Indies! We borrowed their surf board and and spent a few days wake boarding which was soo much fun. We have decided as soon as we get down to Boca del Toro we are going to by one. Its really good exercise as well!15 mins and your done for the day!! We had a couple of wicked fires and bbq on the beach







Finally there was a good weather forecast for us to go. We got the boat ready for our journey and left for a three day sail to Provendencia. Poor debs was sea sick – the weather being a tadge windier than forecast. After one day out to sea and 60 miles under our belt, Sym checked the engine to discover one of the pipes on the engine had burst and we had a really big oil leak. Two minutes later we ripped our main sail. We had no other option than to turn around and sail back to Guanaya to get everything fixed. We ended up sailing in under head sail through the reefs and into the anchorage late as night - quite nerve racking to be honest, but we had gone in and out a few times so we knew what to expect! We were all really gutted because Al and Debs only had a week left and so instead of helping us around the Nicaraguan bank they had to fly home from Honduras.

Sym managed to get the pipe fixed the next day and so Gypsy Moth was ship shape again. After 6 weeks Al and Debs flew home and we were now on the boat on our own. It was such a wicked laugh with them on the boat, but it was good to finally have some peace and quiet( no offence guys, haha)!! And get used to the three of us sailing together as a family. We waited another 5 or so days after they left when the perfect forecast came in giving us a two day window of light northley winds!!

Guanaya

Al catches a Barracuda on the way to Guanaya!!



Next Stop - We sailed to the most eastern island of Guanaya – 15 miles east of Roatan. We anchored in the bay of El Bite which is famous for having a wild dolphin. Dolphy as we originally named him was an escaped trained dolphin who lived in the anchorage. When we first arrived he came over to greet us. Everyone being excited jumped in the water but he swam away- none of us could get that close to him.
El Bite was a good anchorage with good holding and lots of boats. There was a really good atmosphere there and most of the sailors met up a few times a week for pizza night or drinks in the Manatee bar. We stayed in the anchorage for approx three weeks and got to know everyone quite well. The owners were originally from Germany and were really welcoming and good fun. Annette the manager of Manatee bar wanted Hallie to stay with her!!

The Anchorage of El Bite



The only problem with the anchorage was there were so many sand flies. We were anchored quite far away from the shore and still we were getting bitten. Horrible little things!!!

Bay Islands - Utila and Roatan

We stayed in the island of Utlia for a few days and then decided to spend a few weeks in the next Island of Roatan to wait for a good weather forecast to sail around the Nicaraguan bank.

Gypsy Moth anchored in Burglary Bay



Approaching the anchorages we discovered the charts and the cruising guide we had was useless. The electronic charts either did not zoom into detail enough or were totally wrong!And Sym swears that the guy who wrote the cruising guide has never actaully visited half the places because the charts are so far out!!

Despite this Roatan is a beautiful island.A perfect place to come on holiday. We stayed a week West End. You were not allowed to anchor there , instead every boat had to pick up a mooring buoy. It cost 40 dollars for the week so it was not too bad. The anchorage was great, with good water for swimming in. We took the dingy right out to the outer reef and did some snorkelling which was fab - loads of fish and coral in crystal clear water!!




The next anchorage we visited was French Harbour. Again the charts were wrong coming into the anchorage.The book was guiding us through waters that looked far to shallow for our draft! Thankfully some guy came out and his dingy and told us the correct way in. He also grounded his first time he tried to enter because of incorrect charts.

French harbour was the best place so far since leaving the Rio. The town was great where there was a massive supermarket full of everything you need. We spent hundreds in there stocking up on all goodies. Fillet Steak (enough for four people) was 12 Dollars!!! How wicked is that? It was so good that we went back the following day and got two more!

The marina complex also had a private beach, a restaurant and bar and cruisers were welcome to use all the facilities for free!! As you can imagine we had a few chilled out days relaxing on the amazing beach!




The snorkelling there was to die for. It was quite a swim out to the reef - on route there was a ship wreck and a sunken aeroplane - but they were too deep to snorkel really. But the reef was the best snorkel i've ever done. The water was so amazing- it was like swimming in an aquarium. Oh and i forgot to mention that Sym broke our new underwater camera by diving down too far to try and get some good shots of the aeroplane wreck. We stayed in French harbour for about a week and then decided to hop down to the next anchorage before sailing across to Guanaja. We were keeping a good eye on the weather waiting for either northerly winds or light variable winds to go around the Nicaraguan bank as our friends Debs and Al were running out of their holiday time and we wanted to get them to Bocas Del Toro in Panama.

Back in the Rio

Back on our boat at last. Everyone spent the first day giving the boat a good scrub and cleaning everything before putting all our stocks away! Sym went through all the electronics and engine room checking everything was working and was just the way we left it!! The only thing was that was disappointing was the boat smelt so musty and mouldy after being stood so long in rainy season.But after the day of cleaning and airing her for a day or so the smell went and everything was back to normal.
Sym vowed that he was never going to leave our boat on her own for so long again!

We spent a week in the Rio getting the boat ready to go out to sea and waiting for a good weather forecast to sail to the Bay Islands! We had originally planned to hop along the main land of Honduras before getting to the Bay Islands. Plans changed when we heard a week before just after Christmas a Canadian boat had been anchored on their own. The boat was then approached by a group of locals asking to borrow some tools. The Captain was then shot four times in the chest and died. The daughter fired a flare gun to scare them off but then she had to wait 18 hours to be rescued by a freighter nearby. This was the second piracy attack in a matter of weeks and so all vessels were told not to go to the main land.






We left the Rio Dulce and spent a a afternoon and night out at sea sailing to the island of Utila!

January 2011 - Travelling back to Gypsy Moth

After a lush Christmas back home with lots and lots of snow we finally arrived in New York where we spent a couple of days site seeing before out flight down to Guatemala.
Deb managed to book a wicked hotel on line which was usually 250 US dollars a night and we ended up paying half price. The location was great and we were right in the centre of Manhatten. All four of us had visited New York before and had done all the sites so we just chilled out and had a good walk around, visited central park and went out for dinner in Times Square!





We were greeted in Guatemala airport by a nice air conditioned mini bus which was organised by the marina!It was totally worth the 150 dollars as last time we spent the five hour ride on a cramped, sweaty,chicken bus which sucked to be perfectly honest!We did a massive stock up in a big supermarket in the city and the time we finished it was night time. Finally all finished and we were just on the start of our five hour ride, getting us to the marina at midnight when the marina phoned the driver on his mobile asking if we were happy to travel at night! Umm well yeah of course we did not mind, Sym asked her why she was asking ! She replied it was extremely dangerous to travel at night as the road was very unsafe and encountered the highest death rate in Guatemala. Along side this we were informed it was safer in the day due to the risk of banditos attacking us and being robbed! Nice!! What a lovely place to bring our new born baby. The whole way back I was on pins that something bad was going to happen! Four hours ride I managed to scare everybody half to death. Every one was sleeping. I had fallen asleep and was dreaming that we were about to have a crash! I woke up to silence and looked ahead and we were on the wrong side of the road! Jesus Wept!! I screamed Sym woke up and i started screaming the driver had fallen asleep...Sym started shouting and shaking him. After we frightened the life out of him he explained to Sym in Spanish he was awake and was avoiding the pot holes on the road!!
After heart failure we all arrived at the marina a little after midnight safe and sound! The manager very kindly put us up in the marina hotel for the night cos it was too late to get down to the boat!! Thank you Jean - Claude!!

Back home in the UK

After rushing around like mad men, we finally managed to sort out the boat and get everything packed away and sorted in order for her to be left for six months. I say we, but I actually mean Sym worked and i just lay on the bed with 5 fans around me trying my best to keep cool or chilled by the pool. The weather was so sticky and hot - being up in the high nineties and felt faint the majority of the time. How people cope having babies in that heat I just do not understand!

Leaving Gypsy Moth



We finally arrived back in the UK after what felt like a eternity travelling and moved back in with my mam in my house I grew up in in Wales. It felt so good to be in the cold weather - even though it was summer time in the UK it was no where near as hot.
Our plan was for Sym to go back to work and make some money, spent Christmas at home and then fly back to Gypsy Moth in the new year with our new little baby!

Hallie decided to hang in there and make a late appearance and I gave birth to her the morning I was booked in to be induced. She arrived at 7.12am on the 30th August 2010, weighing 8.14 oz....a little chubber i must say. I wont go into the details of the labour as to be honest im still quite mentally scarred from the shear pain of it all!!

Hallie a few minutes old!



Proud Mummy and Daddy!!






It was really lovely spending so much time with all our family without having to rush. It was also nice to have my mum and sisters around to help out with Hallie and get all that motherly advice and stuff. However we both missed being on the boat so much and were so eager to get back to Gypsy Moth with our babs and start our travels again!





We booked out flights back out to New York on the 4th January along with our friends Al and Debs who were coming to join us. We thought it would be a nice idea to have some help with the sailing and get us used to the baby on the boat for a few weeks!

Rio Dulce

Rio Dulce meaning Sweet River in Spanish is meant to be one of the top highlights of Guatemala, and yeah they are right...the place is truly beautiful.
Orignally we wanted to leave the boat in Panama - but we could not make it down there in enough time - we are really happy now cos we got to visit alot more places that we would of sailed right passed.

All the cruising guides and information we had on the river stated that the entrance was very difficult and needed to be timed with high water as the deepest channel through is only are 7 foot. Lots of boats have run aground on the sand bar and had to pay the locals to come and help them. Basically they would tie a rope to the top of the mast and heel you over so you can lift the keel over the bar. Sounds extremely dodgy.
However we had no trouble whatsoever on the way in or out. We had at least 2 foot beneath the keel at all times. Once your inside its amazing.
We decided to stay at Livingstone for the night as it was getting late.It was the first little town on the way to the river and you could only get there by boat. But we were a tadge worried to say the least when the immigration guys told us to move swifly on as it was too dangerous and the chances of getting robbed was high!!NICE village a !
We then had to nail the engine and get through the gorge and up to the first marina with about an hour or so to spare before sunset, so it was a little bit stressful.But the trip through the gorge was the best and one of the most scenic places ever.

Check out the pics below

Sailing up the Gorge!!



Gypsy Moth anchored outside Texan Bay Marina - made it by sun set by the skin of teeth!!

Belize

After a lovely few relaxing weeks in Mexico it was time to travel down to the Rio so we could pack everything up in order to fly back to the UK. Sym was feeling rather miserable about leaving the boat for so long but there was no way I wanted my first baby born in some local dodgy town where I could not speak the language!
We headed off and did a couple of days out to sea and sailed in behind the reef - where we arrived at Belize.

Belize was a fab place, with flat protected waters, hundreds of small islands with thousands of choices of places to anchor. We were gutted we could not stay any longer but time was of the essence. We did not bother checking into the country ( I know, how naughty!!) we heard it was really expensive and we were only there three nights and really did not want the hassle with the customs and immigration.
We spent three days hopping down the islands travelling south towards the Rio. The last night there and we nearly ended up on a reef - our closet encounter yet!! The situation sounds very ridiculous actually - but true!!

We tried anchoring a few times and the anchor would not bite, the bottom was grassy and muddy so Sym decided he wanted to attach the Danforth anchor to our CQR and have both anchors out. Night was falling so we wanted to do it quickly. Anyway Sym throws the anchor over the bow of our boat - not the way we usually do it as its alot easier to bring it up and re attach it! but he decided he wanted to dive down and check the anchors and would do it in the water! Well the palavor begins!! he jumps in and screams and jumps back out - there is a 4 foot barracuda lurking underneath the boat - Sym startled it when jumping in and it showed Sym its teeth and swam towards him.....

An hour later, 20 attempts and still no joy. Every time Sym tried to go into the water the barracuda swam out and circled him!!! It even got to the stage where Sym threw a bucket to see what it would do and it swam out from the boat and starting circling the bucket ready for attack...Sym even tried catching him with the fishing line and he took the bite, bit through it and still came back for more!!Sym felt slightly frightened to say the least at the tormenting barracuda.

As you can imagine, Sym did not go back into the water that night! Hence one poorly dug in anchor - but hey there was no wind!!
Night fell...pitch black, a big squall came over wind blowing 35 knots, guess what, we come out on deck to find the anchor dragged and we were about 2 metres from the reef....1 foot beneath the keel.

Thank god my babs was quick off the mark and got us moving in seconds otherwise it would not have been a very nice last night!! All caused by the bloody barracuda!!
Anyhow we did manage to retrieve our anchor the following morning - the barracuda - GONE!!

Mexico

The sail over to Isla Muejeres was pretty uneventful, nice flat waters and we managed to sail about 6 knots all the way there! The infamous busy shipping channel which we were not looking forward to because our AIS was not up and running turned out to be the quietest night sail ever....we saw one boat on our way into the anchorage and that was it!!

This birdie came onto the boat at sun set and stayed aboard to rest all night long!!



After a night at sea we sailed into the protected anchorage the following morning. It was fab there and we managed to stay two weeks before leaving for the Rio Dulce.
It had everything a heavily pregnant women could want. Lots of cheap restaurants with good hot spicy food, beautiful beaches and great snorkelling. To top it off a 10 minute ferry ride over to Cancun where there was Air Conditioned shopping malls, more food outlets and the cinema!!
It does not sound adventurous i know, instead of site seeing the mayan ruins and all the touristy stuff all i wanted was air con and food!!haha!!



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We did manage to do a little site seeing around the island, where we hired a golf buggy for the day.The island was brill and a beautiful holiday resort for anyone thinking of going!

Cuba - Part Two!!

We spent over a week in Marina Hemmingway and went into the capital of Havanna for a couple of days. The first day we took a bus into the city which was not too far but i was so exhausted by the end of the day that we decided the following day we would hire a car.

The City of Havana was fantastic but a lot more run down and neglected than we envisioned. The buildings were so delapitated and un kept mainly due to the American embargo which over the decades has screwed the Cuban economy and no more funds from the USSR I guess. The City needs a good few billion spent on it get it back in tact!
However saying that Havana had an amazing charm and the people are the friendliest you will ever meet.

Site seeing in Revoltionary Square





The city of Havana and all the beautiful cars





We were really looking forward to travelling along the northern coast of Cuba - hopping along some anchorages before crossing the Yucatan channel to Mexico.However we did not realise how much of a pain it would be. The officials told us when we left Marina Hemmingway we would have to check in and out of every anchorage we went to and provide them with a list of the places we were going and how long we planned to stay.
It all sounded like so much of a palavor - especially knowing how long it took to check in the last time. We were also on a time limit as we had our flights booked back to the UK for the beginning of June so we decided to sail straight to Isla Mujeres in Mexico.